


I'm Just a (Spider) Kid

by reverseclock (FayeCestari)



Series: Multiverse Is Weird [1]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Multiverse, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Platonic Relationships, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Stealth Crossover, Uncle James "Rhodey" Rhodes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26612692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayeCestari/pseuds/reverseclock
Summary: Five weeks after the battle, Peter is still grieving. That's when the suspicious spider that has been living in the corner of his bedroom decides to tell him she's got a plan to bring Mr. Stark back. Between thinking that he's going crazy and the almost unbelievable chance he's given, Peter must decide how to proceed. Endgame Fix-It.
Relationships: Carol Danvers & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Multiverse Is Weird [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935985
Comments: 29
Kudos: 70





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fix-it I needed to get out of my chest. Irondad forever. Also, I didn't know how to fix Steve's idiotic ending, so I just wrote it off. He's supposed to be with Bucky and we all know it - although this is a Gen fic and won't focus on relationships that are not platonic (just yet, I'm planning on a sequel). Hope you enjoy what this crazy brain has cooked up.

It’s been five weeks since the funeral, and Peter couldn’t say it hurt any less. The weight on his chest was heavy and constant, although he would put a small smile on his lips and pretend life went on. To him, though, life seemed very much stuck in the battlefield that once was the Avengers Compound.

He opened the bedroom window after spending the last two hours scouring the streets for some crime to fight, but it all seemed way too quiet that night. Being Spider-Man was the only thing that could make him forget about the pain, even if just for a little bit, but it didn’t seem to work tonight. Maybe even the criminals were missing Tony Stark.

Peter sighed while he closed the window behind him, checking the clock over the bedside table. He was about fifteen minutes early for his curfew, which was a relief. Last time he broke it, there wasn’t a fight, but the sheer fear in May’s eyes was way worse than any grounding she could have given him. He could hear the TV coming from the living room.

“Hey, May, I’m home!” He called out, taking the mask off.

There was some shuffling around on the couch, the TV was turned off, and slow steps came up the hallway. May was in her pajamas, but seemed very awake, eyes ready to check on Peter. It took about a minute looking him up and down for her to decide he was okay, give him a kiss goodnight and tell him there was dinner in the oven before she went to bed. 

That was their ritual every night since they came back home. The fact that they still had a home to come back to was only thanks to Tony and the fact that he actually bought the apartment building while Peter and May were dusted. He wasn’t sure if Tony thought they would ever be back, but apparently, he wouldn’t let anyone else live in their home. So now the whole building was a steady reminder of his loss - not that he needed one, the weight in his chest did a good enough job.

Peter ate some dinner in his room without really tasting it, then took a shower and changed into pajamas. It wasn’t until he was sitting on his bed, staring at his homework - it’s been two days since he went back to school, and it was absolutely bizarre to be surrounded by so many people he’s never heard of, he was actually lucky Ned was dusted too -, that he noticed a small movement in the corner of his ceiling, right above the closed door.

“Oh, hey Medusa. You’re back,” he greeted the not so small spider that had made a home in the tall corner of his bedroom.

Peter had noticed the spider a couple of weeks ago, but he obviously wasn’t gonna kill her, she wasn’t hurting him, why the hell would he hurt her? Besides, after the third day, he started feeling comforted by her constant presence, she seemed to be gone during the day, but was always back to that corner in the nights. So he did the obvious thing and decided to name her Medusa. He wasn’t even sure if it was a ‘her’, but he liked to think it was. He wasn’t sure when exactly he started telling her about his day, but it felt much easier to let it out to a spider then it did to the expensive therapist his aunt had arranged for him to go to once a week for the last three weeks - something Pepper Potts seemed to insist on helping with. Apparently, the therapist was from Shield, so it was okay to talk about the battle and Spider-Man stuff, but he just couldn’t make the words spill out. Instead, he would talk about Star Wars. A lot.

“It’s a nice night, weather-wise,” he continued, putting his pencil down over the Chemistry textbook. “But I didn’t get much done. It was hell,” he sighed, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest, trying to count the number of eyes on the spider, but she was far away and all the lighting came from the lamp by his bed. He was guessing it was probably eight. Could be six. He wasn’t sure what species Medusa was. “I really miss him,” his voice lowered, but he didn’t look away. He was getting better at this sharing-stuff-with-his-personal-spider thing. “I’m not hating him anymore, which I guess is a good thing. Hating the dead man is really guilt-inducing, you know?” The spider moved two legs, as if in agreement, and Peter nodded. “Yeah, Medusa, don’t hate dead people, it’s bad for your digestion,” he stopped and chewed on his lower lip. At least the tears were gone. It was a good step forward. Or at least he hoped it was. “I really wish he was back, though.”

“Maybe I could help you with that.”

Peter jumped to his feet so fast the world spun around him. His spidey-senses did not yell at him, he could not feel anyone else in the room, so where the hell did that voice just come from?

“Sorry to scare you, Pete. Up here,” the voice called, and Peter looked up, seeing Medusa raising two legs again. He blinked, the world slowly coming to a stop.

“This is not happening,” he said to himself. “I did not just hear a spider talk back to me. I’m not _that_ insane!” He put his hands on his hair and grabbed a few locks, trying to ground himself.

“Peter,” she called. It was a ‘she’. It was definitely a female voice. “Breathe slower, please. You’ll hyperventilate if you keep breathing like that,” Medusa said, moving her two front legs again, but not moving from her spot, probably afraid to scare him any further.

His hands were shaking on his hair, and he closed his eyes. Mentally, he tried to think over all the time that has passed since he’s been bitten by that spider two years ago. Did he _ever_ have a two-way conversation with an arachnid? 

Well, he really shouldn’t be surprised, he thought. There were wizards, aliens, talking raccoons, demi-gods, super-soldiers, dead parental figures… Why not talking spiders? Okay Peter, breathe.

“That’s it,” Medusa said, her voice as calming as a spider voice could sound. “You’re doing great, Pete.” If she had muscles on her face, he could think she was smiling as she said that.

Peter opened his eyes and looked at her.

“You can talk,” he deadpanned.

“Yes,” she said in a semi-soothing voice. “Again, sorry for scaring you. I just thought we had enough of a relationship for me to make you an offer,” she said tentatively. 

“An offer?” He repeated, slowly letting his body fall back down to his bed, the pencil rolling from the textbook and into the carpet. He checked his senses again and again, but could still detect no signs of danger.

“Yes,” she said, and she started crawling down the wall. It took surprisingly little to reach his desk, still on the other side of the bedroom from where Peter was. “I can help you get Tony Stark back.”

Peter felt dizzy again. Were his emotions playing a trick on him? 

His thoughts were interrupted by the vibration that came from the phone sitting on his nightstand. Peter slowly reached for the device, eyes still glued on the spider up until he brought it close enough that his periphery vision could read the words “Pepper Potts” on the screen. He finally lowered his eyes and checked the time, seeing it was way past Morgan’s bedtime, but it was a video call and usually, those only came from the little girl. He furrowed his brow, momentarily forgetting about the talking spider and her alleged plan to bring Tony Stark back to life, and picked up the call. 

“Petey!” Came the voice from the phone, and Peter immediately noticed the red eyes, even though she had a big smile on her face at the moment.

“Mor, what are you doing up?” He asked, getting concerned.

“Hey Peter, I’m sorry, we didn’t wake you up, did we?” Pepper appeared behind Morgan and Peter realized she was holding the little girl while Morgan made the call.

“No, don’t worry, I was just doing some homework,” he assured her, then looked back at Morgan. “What’s going on, Mor?”

“Nightmare,” she said in a small voice, and Peter’s face softened.

“She really wanted to talk to you, make sure you’re okay,” Pepper explained in a voice that said she meant more than her words.

Peter nodded. It wasn’t unusual for Morgan to have bad dreams about Tony, but he guessed it was the first time she had one about Peter. They met for the first time right after the battle, and he was shocked to find out that little Morgan had spent the whole of her four years hearing stories about not only Spider-Man, but also Peter Parker. Like a big brother she just then finally got to meet, and she welcomed him to the family with open arms. It took him all of ten seconds to fall in love with her. He just wished she wasn’t going through the loss of a parent.

“Oh, Mor, I’m okay. See?” He raised his arm and flexed it for the phone camera, making her giggle. “Eating my spinach and everything.”

“I like spinach!” She said, bringing the phone a little bit closer.

“That’s good, it makes you strong,” he winked.

“Okay, it’s time for bed now,” Pepper said, and Morgan pouted.

“But Petey!”

“Peter has homework to do, right, Peter?” Pepper said, looking into the camera.

“Yes, in fact, I do. So you will go to bed now, miss Morgan, and I’ll do homework,” he said, and she was about to complain when he continued. “And I’ll make sure to visit you on the weekend and we’ll build a new toy,” he looked at Pepper, asking silently if it was okay. She smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, thanking him for the effort.

“Promise?” Morgan asked.

“I promise.”

They said their goodnights and Morgan’s kiss was so adorable that Peter almost forgot about the spider sitting and silently waiting for him on his desk. He put the phone down and narrowed his eyes.

“What, exactly, did you have in mind?”

\---

His body was getting very confused with him, because it was already way past midnight and he knew that in a school day, it was a bad idea to still be up, but the whole thing with the talking spider and bringing Mr. Stark back was making Peter super hyper.

Medusa was still standing on the desk, leaning on her back four legs, and it almost reminded him of a dog sitting in front of him. A very weird dog.

“So, before we get any further, there’s something else I need to tell you, Peter,” she said, her bluish eyes glistening in the poorly illuminated bedroom.

Peter braced himself. How much crazier could his night get?

“What is it? You’re not here to avenge a radioactive dead relative, are you? Because they bit me first and-” he started babbling nervously.

“What? No, Peter… I’m not _actually_ a spider,” she said slowly, as if the information was a complicated calculus problem.

He blinked once, and then another time. Huh. He scratched his head, not really sure as to what to say to that.

“Okay,” he said after a few seconds. “So what are you?”

She sighed, as if she’d been dreading that moment.

“My name is Azure,” started the spider, blinking all the small bluish eyes. “I’m what can be called a therianthrope,” her voice was steady and slow, keeping all eyes fixed on the boy. “I have the ability to shapeshift into animal forms. And also draw from their specific skills.”

Peter kept staring at the spider. Therianthrope, that was a word he hasn’t heard of before. It sounded mythological. The ability to shapeshift into animal forms, she said… Huh… Oh.

_Oh._

“So you’re… _Human_?” He blinked, feeling his mouth dry out.

Has he been opening up to an actual person this whole time? He felt so used all of a sudden. Like his personal space had been invaded - which, you know, _it has_ \- and his stomach started taking painful turns. And why didn’t his spidey-senses tell him about this? Were they failing him?

“Listen, Peter, I know it was quite an invasion of privacy, and I honestly did not want to hurt you in any way. I was not expecting you to start talking to me, really. You just started to, and you seemed to feel better after, so I didn’t stop it,” she paused for a few seconds, but Peter didn’t say anything. His head was spinning. “And I don’t know if it means anything to you,” she finally added, “but I really do care about your feelings and I’m sorry I hurt them,” her voice sounded genuine enough, but he still felt a little nauseous.

He swallowed, trying to calm his heart down.

“Why…” He tried, not looking at the arachnid over the desk. “Why would you even do this?”

She took a step forward with all her legs, then stopped.

“I needed to make sure you’d be inclined to help me. I was only supposed to watch you for a few days after school, to feel out your possible disposition, but then you started talking to me, and… I kind of felt like I should keep coming back.”

Peter didn’t know Medus- Azure! Azure all that well, but he could sense some guilt in her words. He looked at the spider for almost a whole minute, and she waited patiently.

“Can you… turn back to normal?” He finally asked.

“Yeah, sure, if you’re okay with that,” she answered, and then turned her whole body a little bit towards the door. “Let’s just hope your aunt doesn’t wake up.”

Yeah, it’d be a little bit difficult to explain a strange woman in his bedroom in the middle of the night.

Azure quickly walked towards the edge of the desk and climbed down the wooden leg, reaching the carpet. Peter scooched his legs back a little bit, still sitting on the bed. Although there was enough space for at least two people to stand between where Azure and Peter were, he had no idea what shapeshifting looked like. Was there gonna be an explosion? Oh my god, that would totally wake May up.

While his mind took him through earth-shattering possibilities of what could happen, the spider simply raised her two front legs and started to grow. It was fast and fluid, one moment she was a spider, in the next there was a person, fully grown and clothed standing in front of him. His mouth gaped as he stared at the woman, probably in her mid-twenties, tanned skin of who had somewhat light skin, but enough melanin to get way darker if spent enough time under the sun. Her face had freckles all over it, which gave her a jovial look, and the black hair fell in a few curls from a messy bun on top of her head. But the one thing that got his attention were her eyes - big, bright violet irises stared right back at Peter. That was probably the reason why he always saw a bluish tinge to the spider’s eyes.

“Uhm… Hi,” she said with a tentative smile and raised a hand to him. “Let’s try this again. My name is Azure. Nice to meet you. Wanna help me bring Tony Stark back to life?”

Oh. _Right_.

Mr. Stark.


	2. Expanding Horizons (and Universes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a new chapter one week later. I know it's short, and I'm sorry, but I'm working on making the next ones longer. Hope you enjoy!

"So, wait, you're from another  _ reality _ ? Like a multiverse?" Peter asked, wondering if he should be taking her words with a little bit more of a grain of salt. But then again, she was a spider just half an hour ago. 

“That’s right. Thanos’ snap didn’t affect just your reality. I’m not sure if it was the whole multiverse, but I know of at least four others that were altered. So we got together to try and change it, but we found out the only way to fix it was from where the damage in the multiverse was done.” 

“You mean, here? Four realities and all you could do was wait for Mr. Stark to sacrifice himself?” There it was - the anger was back.

Guilt flashed on the violet eyes, along with something else Peter didn’t care to identify.

“We helped as much as we could, Peter. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Five weeks too late,” he said a little too loud, then remembered he shouldn’t wake his aunt.

The bed in May’s room creaked, and he looked in the direction of her room. Azure seemed to have heard it too, although he was pretty sure it was his super-hearing that let him know his aunt was moving around.

“Look, I’ll explain everything, I promise,” she said in that soothing voice that now fit the human body way better than the spider. “But it’s better we do it tomorrow,” she said while opening the window half-way.

“Wait-” Peter started, but he heard steps coming from May’s room.

Just as quick and fluidly as she had turned human, Azure was suddenly a mockingbird, black and grey feathers on top, whitish-tan on the bottom.

“Tomorrow, I promise,” she said, and flew away into the night.

\------------------------

Peter had spent the whole night waking up from dreams and nightmares. Sometimes Mr. Stark was dying all over again, his eyes glassy looking at him; sometimes Peter was dressed as Spider-Man, webbing through the city, but always incapable of stopping the many crimes he encountered; and one time, there was a giant spider, black hairy body, multiple bluish-violet eyes, crashing everything in its path, and Peter wanted to stop her, but he was webbed to the side of a building while she approached, slow and terrifyingly, and all he could do was panic.

After waking from the giant spider dream, he looked at his alarm-clock: five fifty-six in the morning. With a sigh, he decided it wasn’t worth it to try and go back to sleep again. What good would it do, anyway? Another bad dream would wake him up, heart racing and skin crawling, and rest was impossible. Peter got up and silently walked to the kitchen, thinking breakfast would do him some good - that was, if he ignored the constant turning in his stomach.

While preparing some microwave oatmeal, Peter’s mind kept going a million places, all of them ending in Azure and Mr. Stark.

“ _ Tony _ ,” was the last thing he ever said to Mr. Stark. With the many attempts from the man to make Peter call him by his first name, he thought maybe that would elicit some reaction from Mr. Stark. But it didn’t. He wasn’t even sure if the man was still there, behind the glassy eyes and still face. 

But if he was, Peter liked to think that that one last word gave Mr. Stark some sort of comfort.

_ Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeep. _

Crap, he let the microwave go off before stopping it. He hit the cancel button and listened for his aunt. After last night, when she walked into his room with half-awake eyes, asking him why he was up so late, he didn’t want to wake her again. But her bedroom was silent, and after thirty seconds, he finally let a breath out in relief.

He opened the microwave and let his mind wander back to Mr. Stark and the bizarre events of last night. Could that woman really bring him back to life? Was that even possible?

What is not possible, though, Peter, he asked himself. 

With another sigh, he rubbed his eyes. Did he imagine the whole thing? Maybe the lack of sleep was playing tricks on his memory. Why would a shapeshifter - or, what was the word she had used? Therianthrope, - from  _ another dimension _ come to him and help  _ him _ resurrect his mentor.

That was, actually, quite a valid question that had not occurred to him last night: what was in it for her? Trying to fix things because of guilt? Or was there something way bigger at stake here?

Peter dropped the spoon into the oatmeal and grabbed his phone from the pajama pocket. Who could he ask for help? His first thought was Ned, but he was probably still asleep; then MJ came to mind, and she might actually be awake, but if he was honest with himself, what could his best friends actually do to help? He bit his lower lip and scrolled through the text messages, stopping on one in which the last texts had been two days ago:

_ Hey, Pete, how are things? _ Said the text.

_ Everything okay, what about you? _ It was his polite and automatic answer to the asked-too-many-times question.

_ Everything’s fine here. Listen, I’ll go back to town tomorrow, maybe we can meet this week? _

Rereading those texts got him thinking. Rhodey was in town. Maybe he could help him. He thought about Pepper, but he wouldn’t want to give her hope in case it was just a trick. Rhodey was an Avenger, he would be used to dealing with this kind of thing - okay, maybe not exactly this thing, it was too specific and… bizarre. Still, he was Mr. Stark’s best friend, like his own brother, and would understand Peter’s feelings about all this: conflicted between it being too good to be true and just wanting to do anything to bring Mr. Stark back.

Peter thought that maybe Mr. Stark left Rhodey some kind of letter or something, asking him to take care of Peter, because ever since the funeral, he was a constant friendly presence in his life. He wasn’t complaining - although it did feel a little bit like he was charity work, it felt good to know someone cared enough about  _ Peter _ , not Spider-Man. 

Not that he didn’t keep touch with most of the other Avengers too. He got to meet them all, and even started a friendship with a lot of them. Scott went back to San Francisco to be with his family, as did Hope, but he would turn up in the new Compound now and then, now being an official Avenger. 

T’Challa and Shuri also went back to their home, Wakanda, but it was a little bit harder for them to come to New York with no real good reason. Although Peter had kept contact with Shuri by texts, and they spoke almost every day. He had a group-chat with her, MJ and Ned - who were more than excited to get to know Shuri, though for truly different reasons -, and Cassie.

Thor and the Guardians were off-world, as was Carol. He really liked her, she came back once two weeks ago to help Rhodey with something, and Peter got to spend some time with her.

Steve had returned from his time-travel rendezvous and now ran the reconstruction of the Compound along with Bucky and Sam. The new Compound was almost ready. Dr. Bruce was living there with the other three, working in his science lab, and so was Wanda, though Peter couldn’t say what exactly she was doing there, since he barely ever saw her.

Clint had moved his family farm closer to the Compound, so he could fly in and out whenever he was needed, without compromising the time he had with them. He was also someone who Peter got to know a little better, although Peter felt a little cautious with the idea of getting close to another father figure, and kept their relationship more of a friendship than anything else.

Dr. Strange and Wong still lived in the newly reformed Sanctum Sanctorum, doing whatever it was that wizards did in New York. Peter liked them too, and still dreamed of the weird yellow circles they were able to create, on occasion. Those weren’t bad dreams, though, just weird ones. The type he got used to having since the battle.

And finally Happy, that seemed to always be in his apartment ‘visiting’, and Peter was like 94.3% sure he was  _ maybe _ dating his aunt. But he didn’t like to think about that, so he just took the man’s constant presence as another way to be closer to Mr. Stark.

_ Nope, not gonna think about Happy and May, nope, nope _ , he thought to himself, and went back to the texts on his phone.

Okay, Rhodey it was.

_ Hey Rhodey, do you have time this afternoon? I kinda wanted to talk to you _ . He typed and sent.

Peter wasn’t expecting an answer right away, but it didn’t take more than a minute for his phone to vibrate. He hoped he didn’t wake Rhodey up, and just chucked it to the probable fact that Rhodey woke early everyday because of his time at the Air Forces.

_ Sure, Pete. I’m free after 3:30pm, so just drop by. Something happened? _

Peter fumbled with his phone for a little bit before writing back. Should he tell Rhodey? No, not over text. How do you even begin a text like that? ‘Yeah, actually. A human shaped like a spider came into my room and told me she could save Mr. Stark. Also, she’s from another reality. You know, nothing much.’

Peter snorted at the idea, and got back to typing.

_ Maybe, I’m not sure. Nothing to worry about, I’ll tell you later. I’ll drop by the Compound after school. _

Another buzz from his phone.

_ Sounds good, Pete. See you later. _

And that was that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments, they made me so happy! I've been going through some bad stuff (who isn't, though), and it's been difficult writing more, but I'll do it, don't worry! Sorry if the quality is not the best.  
> Comments are soooo appreciated, you can't even imagine it! I'm accepting ideas, theories, stories about how your life's going... Okay, begging moment is over.  
> See you next Wednesday!


	3. Peter is a Mess and Stalker Birds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday!  
> I'm a few hours late, but it's still Wednesday - on this side of the globe, at least.  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Peter got to school early that day, and couldn’t stop fidgeting, thinking of how in the hell was he supposed to tell Rhodey about what happened. He was so lost in those thoughts that he completely forgot that Azure had promised to come back to talk to him. 

“Dude, your head’s in the clouds today,” Ned said at lunchtime.

“Hm?”

Peter turned to look at his friend, and Ned frowned.

“Did something happen?”

“Hey, losers,” MJ’s voice said before he could come up with some explanation. “Why’s the air so dense?”

The three of them sat at their usual table with their lunches, Peter by Ned and MJ in front of them.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Haven’t you noticed how Peter’s not paying attention to anything today?”

“I mean, Peter has always been kind of an airhead,” she said, popping a pretzel in her mouth.

“Peter is here, stop talking about him in the third person,” Peter grumbled.

“Oh, he woke up,” Ned said.

“Have you been sleeping?” MJ asked on that noncommittal tone of hers, face blank of expression.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, I wasn’t paying attention-”

“No, I mean at night. You look exhausted,” she explained.

Ned looked up and down his friend and nodded emphatically in agreement.

“Gosh, I must look terrible,” Peter said, and then sighed. How was he supposed to tell what was going on to his friends, if not even he knew it, himself? “Do you guys believe in resurrection?” He asked after a few seconds.

MJ and Ned exchanged a look that said what they were thinking: so that was the problem. It made Peter feel like he was going crazy. Could they stop communicating like he wasn’t there?

“You mean, like… Bringing Mr. Stark back?” Ned asked in a calculated and careful tone. They all knew Tony Stark was a sensitive subject.

Peter shook his head. They wouldn’t get it unless he gave them all the details, and honestly, right now and then, he didn’t feel like trying to explain himself.

“You know what, nevermind,” he said, and got up. “I’ll see you in class.”

“Dude, you barely ate,” Ned tried, but Peter was already walking away, leaving two puzzled friends behind.

“Let him go, he’s obviously got a lot in his head right now,” Peter could hear MJ saying in the distance. 

Sometimes he wished he didn’t have super hearing.

He needed to think, and all that noise was driving him a little crazy. The two most silent places he could think of going were the bathroom and the library. Peter wasn’t in the mood to be locked up in the bathroom for the remainder of lunchtime, so he chose the library. This turned out to be the wrong choice, he realized, when he sat in the pretty much empty place, by an open window, and noticed that a mockingbird had landed there a few seconds later. He recognized the black and gray feathers, and felt himself taking a deep breath.

“Hey, Peter,” sounded the voice from the bird.

He looked around, making sure no one was close enough to hear the talking bird.

“Not the best time,” he murmured, opening his backpack just to have something to do with his hands.

“No one can hear us,” Azure said, the violet eyes looking brightly at him. “It’s important,” she tried again when Peter didn’t answer.

“Of course it is,” he said in a quiet voice, sarcasm still clear. Well, at least he knew now that he hadn’t dreamed the whole thing last night. “What is in it for you?” Peter finally asked, voicing the one thing that was bugging him the most.

There was a moment of silence.

“What, to bring Tony Stark back?” She asked, a little surprised. “Well, he wasn’t supposed to die,” she said like that was a valid explanation.

“No one’s supposed to die,” Peter replied, feeling those words cutting him inside.

Did she really think that people’s deaths were supposed to happen? Like his mom, his dad, uncle Ben? Peter was getting angry again.

“No, I don’t mean it like that,” she tried to placate. “I mean, the snap wasn’t supposed to have killed him.”

Peter’s brow furrowed, and he finally looked at the bird on the window.

“Then why did he die?” He challenged.

“That’s a longer conversation than we can have now, Peter.” She took a moment, then continued. “I need to know if you’re interested in helping me bring him back.”

Peter felt a little gaslit. Did he want to help bring Mr. Stark back? Of course he did. There was no question about it. But too many other questions floated around in his head: How could he do that? What was he needed for? How was  _ she _ going to make it happen? And why? To have justice? She wasn’t even from his reality, why did she care?

“What do you need from me?” He finally asked.

“Oh,” she said, maybe not expecting that question. “I actually need your help convincing the others to help.”

Peter’s eyebrows were woven together at this point. Who did she mean by ‘the others’? Then, he realized something: she’s been watching him for god knows how long, and she knew - she knew he was Spider-Man.

“The… Avengers?” He hissed, pretty much outraged. “You came to me to reach the Avengers?!”

“Well, kinda?” Her voice seemed to have shrunk after Peter’s outrage.

“Why didn’t you just go spy on them, then? Why come through  _ me _ ?”

“You seemed more receptive to the idea,” she said - was that guilt in her voice?

_ Meaning: He was suffering more openly because of Mr. Stark _ , he thought.  _ He was an easier target _ .

“I can’t believe this. Do you even want to bring Mr. Stark back?”

“Of course, I do-”

Peter couldn’t handle it anymore. Were more lies gonna come out of her mouth - or beak?

“Yeah, well, but I can’t trust you,” he interrupted, and the bell rang. “Goodbye.”

He got up and left before she could say anything but a small call for his name.

\---

Peter left school at 2:45, same as always, but instead of going home, he hid in an alley three blocks away and changed into his Spider-Man suit. He figured if he webbed his way to the Compound, he’d get there in maybe an hour, instead of the almost two that took by car - and he wasn’t in the mood to explain to Happy why he wanted a lift there.

“Karen, let me know if there are any crimes reported on my way,” he asked.

“Sure thing, Peter.”

On his way, he could have sworn he saw a mockingbird flying in the same direction. But as soon as he noticed it, the bird flew away. His mind was then occupied with a burglar, a cat stuck in a tree, and two oddly similar old ladies who needed help with their groceries.

Soon enough, Peter found himself at the front gates of the Compound. He could’ve just webbed his way inside, but as the place was rebuilt, so were the security measures, and he didn’t really want to be shot by mistake.

“Karen, could you let FRIDAY know I’m here?”

“Just a moment, Peter,” the AI answered, and then, sure enough, the gates opened for him in just a few seconds.

“Welcome, Spider-Man,” sounded FRIDAY’s voice as he entered the gates.

It felt weird to have the AI calling him by his hero name, but he knew it was a safety precaution since he was still entering the grounds and someone nearby could hear her. Peter was still thinking about it when he got inside the new building and finally got his mask off.

“Peter! How nice to see you here.”

He turned to where the voice came from and saw Steve Rogers sitting at the communal kitchen island, eating what Peter’s nose told him was a peanut butter sandwich. He had noticed Steve would eat those a lot when Peter visited the Compound.

“Hi, Mr. Rogers.”

“Steve,” he corrected in that always-nice-tone of his.

“ _ Steve _ , sorry,” Peter said. “Is Rhodey around?”

“Ha, I got the kid to call me by my name first,” bragged a voice coming from the doorway. Steve didn’t say anything, just rolled his eyes, but with a simple smile in place. “FRIDAY told me you arrived,” Rhodey told Peter.

Peter nodded. It was still a little weird being around Avengers, even though he was one now himself. Rhodey was the one that was closest to him, so he didn’t feel that weird, but when you add other Avengers to the mix, well… It’s weird. How many times could he say that word in his head before it lost all meaning?

A bird song coming from the window pulled him out of his random thoughts and he turned around immediately, his eyes closing in at the gray and black mockingbird with tan feathers on its belly perched on the windowsill. He felt all the blood leaving his face. Had she really followed him all the way to the Avenger’s Compound? Or was he just becoming paranoid?

“Peter, are you okay?” Steve asked.

Both men looked in the direction Peter kept staring at, confused when only met a bird sitting there.

“Y-yeah,” he answered. “Can we talk somewhere else?” Peter asked Rhodey.

“Sure, let’s go to the conference room,” Rhodey said, but even as he gestured for him to follow and they made their way there, he couldn’t hide the concern from his face.

Peter threw himself in one of the comfy rolling chairs and sighed. How was he even supposed to start that conversation?

“So, something happened last night,” he began, looking around and making sure that the only window was closed and with an active digital blackout. 

“What was it?” Rhodey asked, brow furrowing.

“Okay, so there’s this spider, alright? It kept coming back to the corner of my bedroom in the last few weeks at night-”

“Why didn’t you just kill it?” Rhodey asked, confused as to what a spider had to do with the boy’s strange behavior.

Peter looked troubled with the idea.

“Because it’s a living being, there’s no need to kill it,” he said, and then the thought of having killed an actual human being without knowing crossed his mind. He could have been an actual murderer if he killed bugs. “Besides, um, it was not a spider,” he finally said.

Rhodey looked confused.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, well, it was a surprise for me too, but the spider just started talking to me - a-and I know what you’re thinking, I thought it too: I must be going crazy,” he started blathering, like always happened when he got nervous. “But, you see, what she said…” He stopped himself. “Yeah, it’s a ‘she’.I never actually asked her pronouns, though. So maybe it’s not. But-”

“Pete,” Rhodey called out, stopping his chattering. “What did the spider say?”

Peter took a deep breath.

“That she could bring Mr. Stark back,” he said in a small voice, suddenly not as avid to talk as before.

Rhodey kept quiet for about a minute, and although he tried to hide it, the sting of pain was visible in his eyes.

“A spider said it could bring him back?” He asked slowly.

“Oh, she’s not a spider. She transformed into a person  _ inside _ my bedroom. She’s a whole person. She also told me she’s from a different reality… Like-like the multiverse theory?” Rhodey kept staring at him, something in his eyes that Peter couldn’t quite put his finger on. Was it pity? No, it was something else. There was a kind of understanding in it. “I swear I’m not crazy.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy, Pete. But… Don’t you think it could have been a dream?”

“Yeah, no, that’s what I thought too when I woke up this morning. But she’s this person that can change into any animal - c’mon, you’ve seen crazier things than that,” and yes, Rhodey had to nod and agree, because it was by far not the craziest thing he’s seen - he’s literally traveled through time. “So, today at lunch I was at the library and she appeared as a bird on the window and told me she needed my help to reach… Well, you guys. Which got me extremely mad, but now I don’t know if it was the best idea to shut her out, if there’s even the slightest chance that she could do something, we should hear her, right?” He didn’t give Rhodey the time to answer. “Also, I think she followed me here.”

That last bit made Rhodey pause.

“To the Compound?” He asked, then something seemed to click in his head. “The bird in the common room window?”

Peter just nodded.

Rhodey instantly put on his gauntlet and left the room, following the path back to where Steve was still sitting, unaware of what was going on. Rhodey lifted the gauntlet in front of him and aimed for the window.

“What-” Steve started.

“FRIDAY, open the window,” Rhodey said, staring at the bird on the windowsill.

The window opened and Rhodey was aiming at the mockingbird, that hadn't moved an inch. Peter was watching everything, wondering what would he do if it turned out he’d imagined the whole thing. What would be the best result, if the bird was indeed a woman who turned into animals and claimed to have resurrection powers - and just  _ invaded the Avengers Compound _ -, or if he was going crazy? He honestly didn’t know.

“Reveal yourself,” Rhodey ordered, eyes narrowing.

For a few seconds, everyone stayed still, the dense air all around them, and then a female voice sounded from the window.

“Only if you promise not to shoot me,” Azure said, still perched at the window.

Peter let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in, and Steve immediately got up and on a fighting stance.

“I won’t shoot if you don’t give me a reason to,” Rhodey said.

“Fair enough,” Azure replied, her tone of voice not sounding as tense as Peter knew he and the other two felt. It was almost like she was used to invading private property as a bird and having propulsors aimed at her.

She didn’t move from the window, so when the fluid magic transformation happened, she ended up sitting on the windowsill, legs crossed, hands folded on her lap.

Steve let out a cuss, and Rhodey didn’t lower his hand.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Rhodey asked.

“My name is Azure, and I’m here to help you guys,” she said lightly. “Is that really necessary?” She pointed at the gauntlet. “I’m unarmed,” she claimed, raising both hands to show them there was nothing in them.

“Help with what?” Steve asked, and Peter didn’t even realize he had reached for his new shield, sent straight from Wakanda.

“Bringing Tony Stark back?” Azure turned to Peter, “I thought we had covered this topic.”

“How would you do that?” Rhodey asked.

“And more importantly, why?” Steve added.

Azure sighed, showing for the first time any kind of expression, and looking exhausted.

“That’s a long conversation,” she looked at each one of them. “One that would be best had in a more friendly environment.”

Peter, knowing there was no danger - otherwise, his Spidey-senses would be yelling at him -, was trying to recognize where her accent came from, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Maybe somewhere in South America?

“Pete, what about your… Tingle… Thing?” Rhodey asked him quietly, not straying his aim or gaze from the unwanted guest.

“Please don’t call it that,” he begged, wondering if his aunt had been talking to Rhodey recently. That was a probable yes. “I don’t think she’s currently a danger to any of us,” he placated.

Azure smiled at him, a warm and kind smile that, with Peter’s claims, finally made up Rhodey’s mind, and he slowly lowered his hand.

“Thank you,” she said in an honest tone. Maybe she was somewhat nervous with the weapon aimed at her after all. “Can I get up, or...?” She gestured at the window.

Steve and Rhodey exchanged a glance, then silently both nodded.

“Thank you,” she repeated, and got up from the windowsill, standing in front of them.

Azure was shorter than all three men, but the way she stood gave her a sense of strength, like she was a long-term fighter or something. Used to being around intimidating people - and Peter.

“So… you can just… turn into animals?”

“Yes. I come from a universe where there are people with powers - who you’d call here ‘enhanced people’ -, there we are called ‘mutants’.”

“I thought you were a… therianthrope?” Peter asked, confused.

“Yes, that is the name of my specific power. But people with powers in general are mutants.”

“That doesn’t sound like a nice name,” Peter said, and she smiled again.

“It’s because we have a mutated gene. Trust me, the X-Men have tried to change the name, but it’s been going for way too long now.”

“I’m sorry… ‘X-Men’?” Rhodey asked.

“Think of us as the Avengers of our world.”

“Okay, but… ‘X-Men’? Isn’t that a little… sexist?”

“Look, I didn’t  _ name _ us,” she said a little annoyed. “Besides, ‘ _ Avengers’ _ ? Isn’t that a little… I don’t know, unnecessarily dark and violent and pessimist?”

“Said the little miss sunshine,” Rhoodey’s sarcasm was palpable.

She raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t answer.

“Okay, can we get back to Mr. Stark?” Peter asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Guess the subtle crossover finally showed up. For those who didn't watch or didn't finish The Gifted, don't worry, there won't be any spoilers or even any focus on that show. I just felt like that was a good universe to bring up since I'm already talking about X-Men. Again, all this part will be very subtle and completely ignorable if you so wish.  
> Furthermore, I'd like to thank you for the kudos and comments, they mean everything. Once again, any comment you wanna leave will make my day! Since the story isn't finished yet, I'd love to hear theories and ideas, or even how your day's going.  
> See you guys next week!


	4. What to Expect When You're Resurrecting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I started thinking up the idea of this fic before FFH, so any similarities of plot (you know, like someone from another dimension coming here, being affected from the snap, etc) are absolute coincidences. You have no idea how I went crazy over the trailer when it first dropped. More explanations about why the chapter is the way it is at the endnotes. Thanks for reading!

“I’m sorry if I’m a little skeptic about someone showing up ‘from another dimension’ with the promise of bringing Tony back to life,” Rhodey said, arms crossed over his chest.

“I figured you wouldn’t be open to the idea right away. But if you want to know if I’m for real, there’s someone you trust that can vouch for me,” Azure said almost casually, as she had rehearsed it.

“And that would be…?” Steve asked.

“Stephen Strange.”

“And why would Strange vouch for you?” Rhodey asked.

“Because we helped you with the whole time-travel thing, and he’s seen it all with the Time Stone.”

Rhodey raised his eyebrows at the ‘help’ part, but Steve was concerned about a different part of her explanation.

“You keep saying ‘we’,” Steve pointed out. “But you seem to be alone.” He looked around, suddenly trying to be aware of any other possible animals or objects that could transform into a person.

“I didn’t come alone,” she said, then amended: “To this reality, I mean, not to the Compound,” she clarified. “We came as two from my dimension, and two more from another where there are mutants, too.” 

Steve nodded, then took out his phone.

“I’ll call Dr. Strange,” he said, and left the room.

“And what exactly did you do to help?” Rhodey asked, sarcasm dripping from his words. He’s obviously not let that go. “I don’t remember seeing you here when we were fighting for the universe,” he stopped himself. “Or rather, ‘universes’.”

“How do you think Scott Lang got out of the quantum realm?” Azure asked.

“We checked the cameras, there was a rat-” Rhodey began.

“That happened to walk exactly over the release button?” She completed, and now it was her who crossed her arms over her chest.

Rhodey furrowed his brow, but Peter, who stayed in silence for the last many minutes and discussions, got to the conclusion first.

“Wait, you were the rat?” He asked.

“Mouse, actually. But yeah,” she said with a shrug.

Peter started to think over all the facts that had been relayed to him about the last five years and how the Avengers had managed to save the universe. Had Scott not been released from the quantum realm, they wouldn’t have thought of the time-travel idea, and Peter wouldn’t be standing there.

“If you knew he was stuck there, why not just go as a human and release him?” Rhodey asked, clearly still very wary of Azure. “Why the whole animal charade?”

That seemed to be the first time she’s faltered. Azure looked away for a second, breaking eye contact with Rhodey that up until then had been steady. 

“Because,” she began slowly. “ _ Maybe _ I didn’t have the permission to intervene in your universe.” Rhodey raised his eyebrows, and she seemed to enter defense mode. “You intervened in our universes first!”

“Nice kindergarten excuse,” Rhodey said, and Peter stifled a laugh.

Azure glared at him, clearly not amused.

“Next time I’ll just leave half the people dead, then,” she said sharply. “It would’ve been easier and I wouldn’t have to be here now.”

They stared at each other for what seemed like a long time, and then finally Rhodey opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by an orange sparkly circle appearing a few feet from where all three of them stood. Steve walked back in at the same time Dr. Strange stepped into the room from his portal.

“I didn’t mean to trouble you into coming here,” Steve said in an apologetic tone.

“It’s no trouble,” Dr. Strange said, and his cloak made a waving movement at Peter, who waved back.

“Great, you’re here,” Rhodey said, and then pointed at Azure. “So, is she telling the truth?”

“That depends, what is she saying?” Strange asked, looking towards the only woman in the room.

“ _ She _ is saying the truth,” Azure snapped, suddenly exhausted with the animosity coming from Rhodey.

“Azure Fonat, right?” Dr. Strange asked, and she nodded. “You’ve come from Earth-9621, with Lorna Dane and Esme Frost, from Earth-2210, and aided the Avengers from behind the scenes so we could win.” His voice was almost bored as he cited the facts.

Azure gave Rhodey a pointed look.

“Okay, if you knew it all this time, why didn’t you share it with the class?” Rhodey asked Strange, avoiding Azure’s look.

“It didn’t seem relevant,” he said simply, then turned to Azure. “But I also didn’t think you’d be here now. Why are you here?”

She sighed and sat at the chair next to her, not bothering to be polite anymore.

“I’m here to fix things.”

“Fix what?” He asked.

“She said she could resurrect Mr. Stark,” Peter piped in.

Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow at the boy, then looked at Azure with something of a reprimanding glare.

Peter thought he would say that it was not possible, why was she lying, but that’s not what came out of Dr. Strange’s mouth.

“I thought you’d know the repercussions of doing something like that.”

“I don’t have much of a choice,” she said quietly.

“Wait, so it is possible?” Peter asked, finally letting hope warm up in his chest.

“Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should,” was Dr. Strange’s response.

“It’s been done before, and it’s my choice,” she said in a tone much firmer than before.

“You’ve resurrected someone before?” Rhodey asked.

“Not me, but it’s all over history. Even your history. It’s the power of the phoenix.”

“Phoenix? Like in mythology?” Peter asked, a little confused.

“Well, you’ve met norse gods and even rode a pegasus, Peter. It’s not that different.”

“So phoenix is a real animal?”

“Reality is what you make of it,” she said.

“Aren’t you all full of riddles,” Rhodey said almost in annoyance, looking at both Azure and Dr. Strange. “We’re looking for concrete answers here. How in the hell is a phoenix supposed to help us?”

“Not the phoenix itself, but the power I’ll draw from it,” Azure explained. “Like I do with other animals.”

“But wait, I’m confused,” Peter said. “I thought a phoenix could only resurrect itself, not others.”

“In its core, the phoenix itself can resurrect, yes, but someone with powers like mine can redirect the resurrection while it’s being first activated.”

“So if you can resurrect people at will, you can bring Natasha back too,” Rhodey said. “Or you could have brought back everyone from the snap without us having to time-travel.” He crossed his arms. “Why didn’t you?”

“Natash-” Azure stopped herself from asking, in a small look of confusion, and stared at Steve with her eyebrows in a frown. Steve looked back at her, and maybe Peter was imagining things, but he could’ve sworn Steve was asking her for something in his look. Azure suddenly broke eye-contact and directed her eyes back to Rhodey. “It’s not that simple,” she answered like she didn’t start to say something else. “I can’t resurrect everyone with the snap of a finger.”

“The power of the phoenix is supposed to be used only to resurrect its own body,” Dr. Strange said, and it seemed like his eyes were judging Azure. “Using it on someone else is dangerous.”

Azure seemed to try to ignore that last part.

“It can only be done once,” Azure explained. “ _ I _ can only do it once.”

“So you’ve never done it before? How can you know it’ll work?” Rhodey asked.

“As I said, it’s been done before, but not by me. My powers aren’t exclusive to myself. Mutants have existed for almost as long as humans. Or enhanced people, in your reality. It’s happened here too before.”

“Really?” Steve asked, more interested in the facts than trying to drill her with questions like Rhodey was doing.

“Yeah. There’s a pretty famous case, actually.” She paused. “Jesus.”

“I’m… sorry?” Steve asked, taken aback.

“Yes, Jesus. Maria, or Mary, his mother, brought him back on the third day, yadda, yadda, yadda.”

“Funny,” Rhodey’s sarcasm was very much alive. “I don’t remember reading in the Bible that she had the power to transform into animals. Or that she could resurrect someone.”

“What, you mean to tell me you haven’t read about a woman being powerful and saving a man  _ in the Bible _ ? Well, that’s shocking!” She matched his sarcasm to the teeth.

Peter snorted. He was never much of a religious guy, so that statement sounded real enough to him.

Rhodey stared at her and she kept eye-contact, like daring him to contradict her.

“Okay,” Steve said, having the attention back on him. “But you,” he looked at Dr. Strange, “said that it could be dangerous. What danger are we talking about here?”

Azure sighed.

“Nothing you should be worrying about.”

“It  _ sounds _ like something we should be worried about,” Rhodey said.

“She’s saying that because the consequences are going to affect her directly,” Dr. Strange intervened.

Azure gave him a betrayed look.

“Sometimes you know too much, Stephen Strange,” she complained, then turned to the others. “See? Nothing  _ you _ should worry about.”

“I don’t understand,” Peter said. “I mean, I’m super in favor of you bringing Mr. Stark back, don’t get me wrong, but why would you do it if it’s dangerous for you? Did you even know him?”

She looked at Peter for a few seconds before answering, like calculating what to say.

“I didn’t know him personally, no,” she started. “But his death  _ did _ directly affect someone I  _ do _ know, and like I said before: I’m here to fix things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone notice a certain discrepancy in facts being told here? Hint: Azure said one thing about coming to this earth, and Strange said something different. Ten points to the house of whoever finds out what I’m talking about!  
> In other news, my pupper has been sick all week, and I’ve been in and out of the hospital with her, it sucked. Therefore, I didn’t have the time to write much more, so I apologize if this chapter is subpar, or even shorter than usual.  
> And finally, if you ever want to talk to me, ask questions, give ideas, etc, you can find me at [reverseclock](https://reverseclock.tumblr.com/ask) on Tumblr! I’d love to talk to you guys, and I’ll always answer as soon as I can, pinky promise!  
> PS: I talked to a few religious friends and they didn't seem offended, but I'm really sorry if I offended any of you with the Jesus thing. I swear it wasn't my intention.


	5. Sugar. Spice. And everything magically nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday/Posting Day!  
> I'll be brief: thank you so much for the kudos! I love you!

Azure didn’t seem to want to elaborate more on her reasons to be there, and they didn’t push. Dr. Strange had decided he’d done what he was supposed to do already and left through another portal. 

Peter found himself wondering what to do, and maybe it was clear on his face that he didn’t want to go home just yet, because Rhodey invited him to stay the night. After calling May - and letting her talk to Rhodey like he was five years old -, it was decided that they would all spend the night at the Compound and leave to Pepper’s house in the morning. It would be a Saturday, and Peter _had_ promised to Morgan he would visit her. Whatever Azure was gonna do the next morning was anybody’s guess.

After a change of clothes and leaving his stuff in the bedroom assigned to him, Peter was starving - maybe it wasn’t the best choice to leave his lunch unfinished, and now with the night approaching, his super-metabolism was screaming at him.

“So, I was thinking we’d order some pizza for dinner,” Rhodey said, and Peter grinned.

Azure hasn’t left the eyesight of one of the Avengers at any time, like they didn’t trust her to be alone in their home, but she seemed fine with it.

“You’re kidding, right?” She said, then looked at Peter. “Pete is a growing super-boy, he needs _food_.”

“Pizza _is_ food,” Rhodey replied in contempt. 

“I could make some ratatouille,” she offered. “Have you ever had it?” She asked directly to Peter.

“Not really,” he answered. “But I love the movie!”

She laughed.

“I wish I could become a rat while I do it, but it’s a little unhygienic, with the fur and everything,” she winked at him.

Peter thought he saw Rhodey roll his eyes. Was he jealous of the way she was treating Peter? He was practically his uncle by that point, and Peter hoped Azure wasn’t a cause for jealousy.

“That sounds great,” Steve piped up. “I can help you, I’ve never made ratatouille before.”

“Isn’t it just a bunch of vegetables thrown together? No meat or anything?” Rhodey questioned.

“You can make meat if you want, but I see no reason to add it, it’s a pretty complete dish already,” Azure said, and there was a tinge of something Peter couldn’t recognize in her violet eyes.

“So you don’t eat meat?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, when you spend your life communicating with and even becoming animals, it gets a little hard to want to eat them. Besides, it can only do good for the environment to avoid animal killing. It is also better for your health.” She crossed her arms and leaned back on the island counter of the common kitchen.

“You can _speak_ to animals?” Peter’s eyes widened. “That’s so cool!”

Azure smiled at him.

“Okay, while we prepare dinner, how about you tell us how exactly is it that you are going to bring someone back to life?” Steve said, already pulling a cutting board from a drawer.

Peter felt like his tone was way too casual when talking about literally bringing Mr. Stark back from the… dead. That word still caused him chills after the battle.

“Sure, because I can’t do it alone, anyway,” she said, her tone as casual as Steve’s while she unceremoniously opened the fridge and started pulling out vegetables.

“Oh, so you need our help, do you? I thought you had the power of the phoenix or whatever,” Rhodey said in an almost skeptical voice.

“Not really _your_ help, no.” She said, raising her eyebrows at Rhodey. Peter was starting to think that both of them put way too much effort into their little arguments. “But we will need three things to use the power of the phoenix and redirect it to Tony Stark.”

Peter hadn’t even noticed that the woman had already washed the vegetables and started chopping them while she spoke. Did she have super-speed?

“And those three things would be…?” Rhodey asked.

She looked at Peter for a moment, and he wondered if she was afraid of answering in front of him.

“I can handle it,” Peter said, maybe unconsciously puffing his chest a little. He was pretty much an adult, after all - he was almost 17!

Azure looked at Peter, then at Rhodey, and let out a breath.

“The first thing is his body,” she finally said, and everyone tensed up.

“He was cremated,” Rhodey said in a harsh voice. Maybe he was building up hope as much as Peter for the last few hours.

“That’s fine, as long as the ashes are still present,” she said, and with the looks she received, she added. “You know, coming back from the ashes is kind of the phoenix’s thing.”

“What’s the second thing?” Bucky asked, coming into the room.

Peter was so focused on Azure’s explanations that he didn’t even realize the man was standing at the doorway. Apparently, Steve had informed him of Azure’s presence at some point.

Azure didn’t look fazed by Bucky’s entrance.

“His living DNA,” she answered.

“Well if we had that, we wouldn’t have to resurrect him now, would we?” Rhodey shot, obviously irritated.

Azure finished washing her hands after putting the chopped vegetables neatly in a tray. She then let Steve put it in the oven and crossed her arms at Rhodey, but didn’t say anything.

“That’s not what she means,” Peter realized. “You mean Morgan.” He said, turning to Azure.

Now it was his turn to feel revolted. There was no way he was gonna let Morgan be involved in that. She was too young, still grieving her father. What if it all failed, or even worse, it was all a lie? That would break her little heart even more. He was way too protective of Morgan to let that happen. She had become his family in the last five weeks, and Peter would always protect his family.

“No way,” Rhodey said, obviously as protective of Morgan as Peter felt. “No one is bringing her into this,” his tone was definitive.

Azure sighed.

“Look, I didn’t make the rules. Besides, we don’t _need her._ Just a few drops of her blood, willingly given. She doesn’t have to know what it’s for,” she tried to appease the room.

Rhodey didn’t seem convinced, and neither did Peter, although he was a little relieved Morgan wouldn’t have to know what was going on.

“So you just wanna cut the child?” Bucky asked.

Azure looked horrified.

“What? No! Have you ever heard of a syringe? Small prickle with a needle, that’s all.”

“And who’s gonna do that?” Peter asked, thinking that Dr. Strange had shaky hands, and Dr. Banner was now giant and green and probably not the best choice to use needles in a four-year-old.

“I know my way around those things,” Azure shrugged.

“So you’re a doctor, now?” Rhodey asked.

“Technically, yes. Not a human one, though.”

“You’re a vet?” Peter asked, blinking.

“Yes, I am. A surgeon, actually. But I promise I have great bedside manners.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Rhodey mumbled.

“Mor is not a dog,” Peter said.

“Obviously,” Azure agreed. “But veins are veins, and it’s way easier to explain to a child what’s happening then to a dog.”

“I thought you could talk to animals,” Rhodey reminded her with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t get me wrong, I can still calm them down enough to do it, but that doesn’t mean they understand the meaning of blood samples.”

Peter nodded, but Rhodey still had a sour face.

“And what’s the third thing?” He asked.

“Me,” she said with simplicity.

“That’s it? ‘You’?” Steve asked.

“Well, me... being resurrected,” she shrugged.

“Wait a minute,” Rhodey raised his hands. “Do you mean you have to die?”

“And come back to life,” she said like she was talking down to a third-grader.

“That’s what Dr. Strange was talking about when he said that it was dangerous?” Peter asked.

“Why would you do this for someone you don’t even know?” Bucky asked suspiciously.

She sighed.

“We’ve been over this, guys.”

“No, I don’t think we have. All you said is that his death affected you, or someone you know. You never said _how_ ,” Rhodey said, eyes narrowing.

“Hold on,” Peter said, suddenly remembering something. “You said you came with someone from your reality,” he quoted. “But Dr. Strange didn’t mention a second person, only two others from a second reality.”

“Right there, that big brain of yours is one of my favorite things about you,” she said with a smile, although no happiness reached her eyes. Quite the contrary, it suddenly seemed like she was upset, or sad. “His name is Liath.”

“And what does Liath has to do with Tony?” Steve asked.

Azure took a hand to her mouth, mindlessly biting her nail until she noticed the act and moved her fingers away.

“Like me, Liath is a mutant. His powers are quite different, though. We each were chosen to come here because our powers could help you somehow. Lorna can manipulate metal, like a magnet, and she was the one who made Stark have an ‘accident’ while doing the dishes, and ending up with Peter’s picture in hands, which changed his mind about trying to achieve time-travel,” she looked at Peter. He had no idea he was the reason Mr. Stark had _invented time-travel_. Maybe Rhodey and Pepper weren’t just taking care of him out of duty - maybe it was Mr. Stark who had shown them how much he cared. Did he care about Peter as much as Peter cared - and still cares - about Mr. Stark? “And Esme can… bend people’s will…”

“Mind control? Are you serious?” Rhodey asked.

Peter noticed Bucky’s hand closing in a fist, and Steve subtly putting his hand on his human arm, trying to ground him.

“She didn’t control anyone,” Azure was quick to amend. “She is also telepathic and an empath, and that’s where Liath enters.” She took a deep breath. “He is also telepathic, as well as having telekinesis, and being able to… transfer powers and strength to other people. Esme was here to help him do that… to Tony Stark.”

Peter stared at her for a few seconds before it dawned on him.

“Is that why you said he wasn’t supposed to die? Because… Liath was interceding?”

She gave him another sad smile and nodded.

“You see, we were only supposed to give you all small nudges in the right direction, work from behind the scenes, since it’s not really widely accepted to interfere in another reality. Multiverse rules and all, I guess. That’s why your Dr. Strange isn’t fond of the idea of me resurrecting Stark. Our Dr. Strange wasn’t really keen either. I had to ask for help from Lorna’s reality to come back here.”

“What exactly happened to Liath? Why didn’t Dr. Strange mention him?” Steve asked.

Azure looked down to a delicate gold bracelet around her wrist, a small four-leaf clover being the only charm in it. She played with it while answering, not looking at anyone specifically.

“He was mentally connected to Stark during the battle, awaiting the moment of the snap. I guess what I didn’t tell you is that he can also see the future without any help from infinity stones,” she said, then added before anyone could ask. “Only snippets, though. So we knew what would happen here and there, and that’s how we knew how to help you. But with Liath’s help, Stark was supposed to survive.” She took a breath. “I noticed something was wrong. And something did go wrong. I told him to disconnect from his mind before it was too late, but he refused. He said he was supposed to be doing that. But Esme, who was supporting Liath mentally, knew it was going wrong too - and she disconnected. But Liath never did.” She felt silent for a few seconds. “And he was still connected to Stark’s mind when he died. He’s been in a coma since then.”

There was another moment of silence.

“And you think that by resurrecting Tony, it will wake Liath from the coma?” Rhodey asked, no sarcasm or ill-will in his voice this time.

“It’s my last hope. Everyone is forgetting about him where we are from, and apparently here too, since your Dr. Strange didn’t seem to remember him. It must be something to do with his powers, that are slowly erasing him off the world,” her face was emotionless, but her voice couldn’t hide the pain in those words. She took a deep breath. “So there you go, you found the reason why I want to help you so much. It’s a win-win for everyone. You get Stark back, and I bring Liath back home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently if I don't ask for comments I don't get any... Please do, it's the highlight of my week! I see the kudos growing, but not the comments. It's the best feeling to see what you guys are thinking about the story, if there were any mistakes I can fix, if you have any theories or questions...  
> Anyways, if you don't wanna comment (although I always reply), but wanna chat about this story, irondad, or anything really, just go to [reverseclock](https://reverseclock.tumblr.com/ask) on tumblr, my ask is always open!  
> Love you guys!


	6. Even in Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday!  
> This week crept up on me and I'll be honest, I didn't have the whole chapter ready, but here it is nonetheless! It gets a little musical, so if anyone's wondering, the version I envision in my head as the closest to the played in the story is Camila Mendes' version of Daddy Lessons. Easily found on youtube or streaming platforms!  
> Alas, let the story begin!

Dinner at the Compound that night was more silent than normal. Everyone seemed to be lost in thoughts after all the information that had come to light in the last hour. Peter had to agree with Azure, it was a win-win situation - but only if everything went right. 

“I have to admit it, that was pretty good,” Rhodey said when they were cleaning up after dinner.

Azure smiled at him, probably the first time Peter saw her smile at someone that wasn’t him.

Not too long after, Peter excused himself to his appointed room and went to bed. As much as he enjoyed the others’ company, he felt exhausted. Maybe it was too much information for one day.

It didn’t take long for sleep to overcome his thoughts, and suddenly Peter was dreaming.

At first, the dream was kind of abstract, with plants and planets dancing slowly around him. One of those dreams no one can explain. Then it started taking shape: first, the world was closing in, and then it was a room. His room. His old bedroom, in his old apartment, where he first met Mr. Stark. Peter looked around, suddenly very aware that Mr. Stark was there… But where? It wasn’t like him to just be hiding under the bed or in the closet. 

After what seemed like hours of searching, Peter fell back on his old bed, frustrated, irritated, sad, upset. He couldn’t choose. And then he felt a hand on his shoulder - warm and strong. A soothing hand. He looked in the direction it was coming from, and there he was: Mr. Stark, in all his glory. He was sitting by his side, just like that first day, but this time he had a reassuring smile on his face.

“Mr. Stark?” 

“Hey, Kid.”

Peter felt like crying, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. Mr. Stark was there, that was a happy occasion.

“I missed you,” he said in a small voice.

Mr. Stark’s smile seemed to falter for a small second, then he pulled the boy into a side hug.

“I’m sorry, kid. But you won’t have to miss me for much longer,” he said.

Peter looked up to Mr. Stark’s face, looking for some trace of untruth there, but there were none.

“You’re coming back?” He asked the man, hope brewing on his chest.

Mr. Stark didn’t answer, but his smile didn’t falter anymore. It was steady and warm, like the hug he was giving him.

It was with that cozy and loving feeling that Peter woke up, and realized it was still the middle of the night. His throat was a little dry, but he still felt good. Somehow he knew Mr. Stark was around, whether he was coming back or not.

He decided to go have a drink of water, calm down his sore throat, but stopped on his way to the kitchen. In the common living room, he could hear the sound of someone playing the guitar mindlessly. He reached closer to the corner, but didn’t turn around it, and could hear the voices he identified as Rhodey and Azure. It was a weird duo to have been playing guitar in the middle of the night, but Peter figured Rhodey still didn’t want to leave Azure under no surveillance. He could hear the clinging of glasses, and his nose told him they were drinking some kind of alcoholic drink, although different ones.

He reached closer and took a look, and was sure he wasn’t noticed. He didn’t even know why he was hiding, it was not like it was a crime to go get a glass of water in the middle of the night.

“How long have you played?” Azure asked, before taking a sip of her bright green drink.

“I learned at college. Tones used to say it was a useless talent to have at MIT, but I always thought it was fun,” he answered while playing a few random notes.

Azure nodded, and took another sip, Peter thought that she was maybe gathering the strength to say what she was thinking - and he was right.

“You don’t trust me,” she stated. “And I understand, you just met me today, and here I am making promises that could hurt so many people if I don’t fulfill them. But haven’t you taken a leap of faith when going back in time? How is that so different from this?”

Rhodey stopped playing and looked at her.

“I don’t  _ know _ you. I don’t know anything about you except that you have your own reasons to bring Tony back that don’t align with our reasons.”

“But the expected result is the same, is it not? I’m being honest with you: Was bringing Stark back to life my first plan? No, it wasn’t. There are risks to do it, and not for him, but for me personally. But am I willing to do it so I can bring Liath back? One hundred percent. I have absolutely nothing against Stark, and if it were for me, he’d never had died - and now turns out it is my choice.”

“All that for one man,” Rhodey said quietly, then turned to look at her and took a big gulp from his glass. “What is he to you? This Liath guy… Are you two together?”

“What, romantically? No, we’re not like that. But it goes way deeper than romance. I don’t think you have this concept here in this universe, but I guess the closest I can get to explain it to you is that he’s my soulmate.”

Rhodey raised his eyebrows and leaned back, resting his hand on the instrument on his lap.

“You’re kidding. Like you were made for each other?” He asked. “But it’s not romantic? How can that work?”

“We weren’t made  _ for _ each other, we were made  _ from _ each other,” she explained. “It’s something almost common where I come from. Not everyone has one, or has met their one, but it’s still common knowledge.” Rhodey didn’t seem convinced. “You have Greek Mythology here, right? Have you never heard of the origin of the human species? Humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces - but that made them too powerful. And it was by fear of that power that Zeus decided to split humans into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves, to be complete. It’s not romantic whatsoever, it’s… Primal.”

It took a few seconds for Rhodey to say something.

“So the two of you are more powerful together, than apart? I mean, your…  _ mutant _ … powers.”

“Not necessarily our powers are stronger, but we are, as people. I lost half of my soul when Liath entered the coma. Before that, we used to feel each other even when we were apart, or asleep, or even across different universes. Now all I can feel is him fighting for his life, and I’ll be damned if I don’t help him win that war.” Her tone was at the same time strong and vulnerable. She finished her drink and served herself more of the bright green liquid. Rhodey was drinking a brownish one. “You still have something bothering you,” she declared more than asked.

“You seem to have been honest up until now, but I wonder if you’ll remain open if I ask you something.”

“Shoot,” she said with no hesitation. 

“Have you ever killed someone?”

That question seemed to stop her in her tracks for a couple of seconds.

“Have  _ you _ ?” She shot back.

“I’ve been to war,” he said in a challenging tone.

“And I’ve lived one,” she said, downed the rest of her second drink and took the guitar from his hands. “Wanna know my whole story? Just ask.”

She started playing a slow melody, beautiful yet somehow sad. Peter recognized the song when she started singing it, a sorrowful tone in her voice, but it sounded just right. It was Daddy Lessons, by Beyoncé, but way slower and more dreary.

“Came into this world, daddy’s little girl, and daddy made a soldier out of me. Daddy made me dance, and daddy held my hand, and daddy liked his whiskey with his tea. And we rode motorcycles, blackjack, classic vinyl; tough girl is what I had to be… He said ‘take care of your mother, watch out for your sister’, that’s when daddy looked at me… With his gun, with his head held high, he told me not to cry, oh my daddy said ‘shoot’, my daddy said ‘shoot’. With his right hand on his rifle, he swore it on the bible, my daddy said ‘shoot’, oh my daddy said ‘shoot’. He held me in his arms, he taught me to be strong, he told me when he’s gone, ‘here’s what you do: when trouble comes to town, and men like me come around’, my daddy said ‘shoot’, oh my daddy said ‘shoot’.” The melody flowed flawlessly with her voice, and Peter even forgot about the conversation that was happening minutes prior. “Daddy made me fight, it wasn’t always right, but he said ‘girl, it’s your second amendment’. He always played it cool, but daddy was no fool, and right before he died, he said ‘remember…’ He said ‘take care of your mother, watch out for your sister’, that’s when daddy looked at me… With his gun, with his head held high, he told me not to cry, oh my daddy said ‘shoot’, my daddy said ‘shoot’. With his right hand on his rifle, he swore it on the bible, oh my daddy said ‘shoot’, my daddy said ‘shoot’... He held me in his arms, he taught me to be strong, he told me when he’s gone ‘here’s what you do: when trouble comes to town, men like me come around’, my daddy said ‘shoot’, my daddy said ‘shoot’.”

She ended the melody, but didn’t look up. Peter wasn’t even trying to hide anymore at this point, but he didn’t seem to be noticed either.

“So you have daddy issues,” Rhodey deadpanned.

“Yes,” she said slowly, still staring at the guitar. “You might say that, seeing that I killed him,” she looked up straight into Rhodey’s eyes.

Peter’s jaw dropped, and so did Rhodey’s.

“You did what?” Peter asked, completely forgetting he wasn’t supposed to be listening to the obviously private conversation.

He felt betrayed, once again. He’s lost three father figures in his short 16 years of existence, and here was a woman that claimed to be willing to bring one of them back, and suddenly she’s killed her own father. How could anyone overcome this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, do I like ending it on cliffhangers? I do, I really do, I'm sorry. Don't hate me.  
> We had some mythology here today, what about that? And that dream, huh? It messed with my irondad feelings, that's for sure!  
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you so much for reading, and please leave a comment! Your comments are the best part of writing this story!  
> If anyone wanna chat, head on to [reverseclock](https://reverseclock.tumblr.com/ask) on Tumblr, I always answer as soon as I see it! Although I do always reply here too, so you have both options!  
> Well, see you next week!


	7. In the Dead of the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm so sorry, I didn't post last week. More on that at the end notes. If you notice, though, I just added the final number of chapters! That's because I finalized my outline. This is only part one of the series though, don't forget!  
> Anyways, happy Wednesday!   
> Tag adds: Carol Danvers

“Peter,” Azure started, sounding guilty. Maybe not for what she’d done, but for being caught.

“You killed your own father?” He asked, and suddenly his voice was hoarse.

“Well… Yes, but it’s not so simple…”

“Explain, then,” Rhodey said, and motioned for Peter to sit by his side. He didn’t even question why the boy was out of bed at that time of the night.

Peter sat and Azure started playing with the empty cup in her hands.

“I come from a country that doesn’t really exist here. It would be somewhere around the south of Brazil for you, right beside Argentina,” she paused. Peter didn’t really care about those kinds of details at that point, and she noticed it. “Long story short, mutants were treated as currency where I’m from, and my father leaned into that. He raised my sister and me with only one objective in mind: to sell us to the government.”

“That’s a parent of the year right there,” Rhodey commented. “And because of that, you killed him?”

“No, I was a well-tamed creature, to his non-deserving credit. The problem came when my little sister didn’t comply as well as I did. You see, he could do whatever he wanted to me, but I’d be damned if he touched a hair in her head, she was just a child. But he did. So I gave him a taste of his own medicine. Unfortunately, I was too little, too late.” She served herself another glass of the bright green drink and downed it all at once.

Peter didn’t know what to say to that. Luckily, he didn’t have to think something up, since a  _ thump _ was heard outside the building and, just as they turned in that direction, FRIDAY’s voice sounded an announcement from the invisible speakers.

“Miss Danvers has just arrived at the Compound and is entering the premises.”

Peter turned to see Carol Danvers walking into the room, her short hair messy from flying. Azure moved a little in the corner of his eye, and he noticed she was blushing - was it the alcohol?

“Doesn’t anybody sleep on this planet?” Carol greeted with a sideways smile.

“If we were in bed, how could we welcome your sudden visit?” Rhodey asked, quickly bouncing back from the tense conversation they were having, and smiled at the new presence.

Carol didn’t answer, just rolled her eyes playfully and started looking around the room.

“Hello, Peter Parker,” she said in a tone that indicated an inside joke, and Peter sighed. Sure, maybe he shouldn’t be telling his real name while wearing his Spider-Man suit in the middle of a battle, but would she never let him forget that? Still, he liked her, so he let it go.

“Hey, Carol,” he greeted. She had, from the first time they actually had the chance to sit and talk, made sure he’d called her by her first name. Rhodey still complained that it took him way longer to convince the spider-boy.

She completed the round of the room, and her eyes settled on Azure for the first time, her eyebrows immediately raising.

“Aze?” She called, to the surprise of the other two.

Azure was still a little blushed.

“Carol,” she greeted, a small smile forming on her lips.

“What are you doing in this universe?” 

“Ah, you know, saving people, resurrecting them, same old, same old,” she shrugged.

To even more of Peter’s surprise, Carol just laughed at that and sat by the woman on the floor, stretching her arms lazily.

“So you know each other,” Rhodey said, it wasn’t a question.

“Oh, yeah,” Azure said, at the same time that Carol said: “We  _ know _ each other, alright,” and Azure giggled at that, to which Carol just smiled her trademark sideways smile.

Rhodey raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Peter looked from one woman to another, questioning the vibes until he could clearly hear MJ’s voice in his head saying ‘ _ they’re so gay, Peter _ ’. He laughed to himself and suddenly missed MJ so much, even though he’s seen her earlier that same day. Too much was happening too fast, and he didn’t even have the mental strength or time to tell either of his best friends about it.

“Why didn’t you say there was somebody else who could vouch for you? Could have made this a lot easier,” Rhodey said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Had I known Carol would be coming by, I could have mentioned it, but as it turns out, I don’t own a crystal ball.”

“Oh, really? I would have thought it’s a part of your skillset, since you always seem to know everything.”

“Speaking of knowing things before they happen, how’s Liath?” Carol asked, completely ignoring Rhodey’s snarky comment.

Azure’s face grimaced in what only could be considered pain.

“Yeah, he’s kind of the reason why I’m here,” she said in a small voice, suddenly way more vulnerable than she had seemed so far.

Peter looked at her, and there was some feeling growing inside of him that he couldn’t quite name, but it was warm, comfortable and… familiar. Like she knew exactly what he was going through, even though their situations were considerably different. But they both lost someone they loved, and they both were fighting to get them back. Although maybe he wasn’t doing it as fiercely as she was. That got him thinking.

“She’s bringing Mr. Stark back,” he told Carol.

Peter had decided right then and there, if there was something he could do to bring Tony Stark back, he would do it. If it wouldn’t hurt anyone else, it was his duty to try. He owed it to Mr. Stark. He brought Peter back from the dead, after all. He freaking invented time-travel just to do it. If a few drops of blood and ashes were what it took to finally have him where he belonged, then that’s what they would do.

“Oh,” Carol said, and looked from Peter to Azure. “You’re using the Phoenix?”

Azure nodded.

“I’m redirecting it to him.”

“Wait a second, nothing’s confirmed yet,” Rhodey interrupted. “We didn’t even talk to Pepper yet.”

“And I know that is absolutely not my place,” Azure said. “But I’ve been nothing but honest with you so far. All I want is for this to work.”

Peter could feel how her words were sincere, and he did finally feel one hundred percent convinced, but Rhodey was right about one thing. They  _ had _ to talk to Pepper. No way could they do something like that and not have her blessing. But also, was it fair to give her hope unless absolutely necessary?

He suddenly remembered his dream earlier that night. It was just a dream, but it had felt so real, Peter could almost see Mr. Stark sitting by his side, his steady smile, the comforting hand on his shoulder. ‘You won’t have to miss me for much longer,’ he’d said. Was that a sign, or just his subconscious on wishful thinking mode? 

“We can talk to Pepper tomorrow, though, right?” Peter asked Rhodey, suddenly feeling like a five-year-old asking for candy before dinner. “I mean, we are already going there…”

Rhodey sighed and ran his fingers through his head, down to the back of his neck. Peter knew he was tired, it was late, and this was a very sensitive topic for both of them. He found himself biting his lower lip while waiting for a response, maybe afraid of what was coming. He could only imagine how Rhodey was feeling right now.

“We’ll talk to her,” he finally said, and turned to Azure. “You can come tomorrow, right?”

“Sure, no plans on this universe,” she said smoothly.

“Do you want to come, too, Carol?” Rhodey asked.

“Unfortunately, I do have plans in this universe,” she winked. “But I one hundred percent vouch for Azure and her powers and her intentions,” she playfully shoved Azure’s shoulder with her own, although her tone was serious.

“Duly noted,” Rhodey said. “Will you spend the night? Your bedroom is always available.”

Carol nodded and stretched her arms again.

“I think I’ll be turning in, guys.”

“Yes, I think it’s best we all go, it’s already past spider-boy’s bedtime,” Rhodey said jokingly.

“I don’t have a bedtime,” Peter grumbled, even though he totally did.

Carol got to her feet and Azure mimicked the act almost on instinct. 

“Sure thing, Peter Parker, but I do,” she laughed. “Good night, everyone!”

She waived as she walked past them and disappeared after turning the corner in the doorway.

“C’mon, I’ll show you your room,” Rhodey said to Azure, getting up. Then turned to Peter. “And you…”

“I know, I know, bed.” Peter sighed.

He said goodnight, made a detour to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and took it with him to his bedroom. Tomorrow would be a difficult day, but, if everything went according to plan, soon… 

Soon Mr. Stark would be back with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been super blocked and couldn't write for the life of me. I'm so sorry. But here it is. Short chapter, BUT with Carol Danvers, so I'm thinking it's always a good bonus, right? And her being gay, I mean, it's just canon at this point. But as I said before, this is a gen fic, but part two isn't, so it might just be a setup.  
> And to whoever is curious, Azure is bisexual. Just to let those who were shipping her with Rhodey still have hope too. Nothing is set in stone, all that happened here is that they had history.  
> Okay, enough of that. Thanks so much for reading, thanks for the kudos, and mainly thank you for the comments, they make my week!   
> Love <3


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